Warm-Up Exercise 23

Due 12:15 pm, Fri 19 Oct 2012

Physics 123, Fall 2012

Reading assignment: PpP 6.6-6.7

What is the main goal of PpP section 6.6? Explain in your own words what the point is. (Be concise; I did this in a single sentence of 20 words.)

The goal is to describe the motion of a string as a function of time, for a given starting position.

How does Dr. Durfee achieve that goal? Explain in your own words what he is doing, mathematically. (I did this in 42 words.)

The process is to 1) write the initial shape as a sum of Fourier components, 2) attach the appropriate time dependence to each component, then 3) add the components back together to get the time dependence of the string as a whole.

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